We are delighted to announce the second research project from the Rare Gynae Cancer Fund. Your kind support will be funding work by Professor Maria Kyrgiou and her team at Imperial College London, who are looking into a more accurate and kinder way to diagnose and treat vulval cancer.

The vulva is the external female genitalia, it includes the inner and outer lips, the clitoris, and the entrances to the vagina and the urethra. Around 1,400 women and people with gynae organs are diagnosed with a cancer of the vulva each year in the UK, making it one of the lesser common gynaecological cancers, but it is on the rise. 

Vulval cancer is most commonly diagnosed after the age of 60, but it can happen at any age. The signs and symptoms of vulval cancer are: a lump or lesion on the vulva, a vulval itch that won’t go away, a change to the colour of the skin such as a patch of red, lighter or darker skin, pain or soreness on the vulva and a change to a mole on the vulval skin. These symptoms are more likely to be caused by something less serious than cancer, but it is always worth getting checked, just in case, and if symptoms persistent, going back to the doctor and asking for a referral. 

Currently to investigate whether any vulval symptoms are caused by cancer, a biopsy is taken and analysed under a microscope. Often several biopsies are needed to be taken from different areas of the vulva for a final diagnosis, which can be an invasive and painful process.  

One of the main treatments for vulval cancer is surgery to remove the affected areas. To reduce the risk of recurrence as much as possible, clear margins need to be taken, this means taking a wider section of skin than just the cancer cells, to ensure all of the cancer is removed, which helps prevent it coming back. Surgery for vulval cancer, or precancerous cells on the vulva, can cause debilitating side effects- from pain, lymphoedema, loss of mobility and a big impact on someone’s sex life and relationships. Unfortunately, there is a high recurrence rate with vulval cancer, with women needing repeated surgeries to treat the precancer or cancer. Currently between 4 and 5 out of every 10 people with precancerous legions get a recurrence. One of the problems is that it can be difficult to see the clear margins (non-cancerous vs the cancerous tissue) by eye.  

The research team at Imperial College London, led by Professor Maria Kyrgiou, want to improve diagnosis and treatment for women to enable cancer to be treated more effectively and to reduce the impact of diagnosis and treatment so that women with vulval cancer can live healthier and happier lives. They plan to do this by looking into a new technology called laser-assisted Rapid Evaporative Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (Laser-REIMS), and whether it can be used to diagnose and treat vulval cancer.  

During the study, the team will assess the diagnostic accuracy of the Laser-REIMS technology on biopsies of vulval precancer and cancer and will further develop the technology for real-time, bedside analysis in the clinic from women who are getting their symptoms investigated. The technology uses a surgical laser to heat the area of concern, which creates a vapor that is rapidly analysed to see whether the area is cancer, precancer, or healthy tissue. This would enable doctors to give an immediate diagnosis in the clinic – which would allow women without cancer to avoid more invasive tests and procedures. It would also allow doctors to proceed to treat the disease and surgically remove the areas of cancer with accuracy in the same appointment and prevent agonising waits for the women undergoing tests and waiting for results.  

If this new technology were to work at diagnosing vulval precancer and cancer it could minimise the number of appointments needed and allow doctors to confidently remove affected areas without unnecessary removal of skin, making the process of diagnosis and treatment for vulval cancer much smoother and kinder for women and reduce the impact this has on their lives. 

The Laser-REIMS technology is being researched in other cancer types, including womb, ovarian and cervical cancer, and so far, it looks promising, with similar, or even better, diagnostic accuracy than current methods. We are looking forward to seeing how this research progresses and will be updating you. It is with a huge thank you that we announce this new research funding, it is thanks to the kindness of our supporters that we are able to fund cutting-edge research like this.

It is with huge thanks to all of the supporters who donated to the Rare Gynae Cancer Fund that we have been able to support this project. The fund is still open for donations as we will continue to fund more projects into the prevention and earlier diagnosis of rarer gynae cancers.